The present invention relates generally to sighting devices for weapons. More specifically, the present invention relates to a low profile configuration for a folding rear sight.
Generally, sighting mechanisms for firearms are bulky and protrude outside the firearm's general contour. This construction creates a greater opportunity for the sighting mechanism to be caught on clothing or brush while the firearm is being carried thereby knocking the sighting mechanism out of alignment. Prior art devices that have attempted to address this problem by allowing removal of the sighting mechanism or providing a hinged attachment of the sighting mechanism. Generally, however, the prior art devices require that each time the sighting mechanism is moved into the active position, the sighting mechanism must be re-aligned before it is ready for use. Although this re-alignment step may be acceptable when the firearm is used in a controlled environment such as a firing range, it is not acceptable for a firearm employed for field use, such as hunting or combat environments where immediate, fully aligned use of the sight is required.
This is of particular concern in the field of combat firearms. A firearm that is used in the field requires a sighting mechanism that is stowed out of the way during times of non-use, thereby providing a streamlined profile that is not likely to be bumped out of alignment. Further, the sight must be quickly deployed when needed. The readiness time for the sighting mechanism to move from the stowed or inactive position to the deployed position must be minimized. Additionally, when moved from the stowed position to the deployed position, the sight must be fully and accurately aligned
In prior art devices, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,292, issued to Swan, a self-aligning flip-up sight provides a spring-loaded mechanism that can be easily moved from a storage position to an active position without requiring re-alignment of the sights. However, this device has a relatively large vertical profile, even when it is in stowed position. The large profile results from the use of two iron peep sights mounted in an “L” shape at a 90° angle relative to one another. In order for the sighting mechanism to be moved into the stowed position, the L-shaped iron sight must be placed into a position that allows one of the legs to lie parallel to the firearm with the other leg pointing upwardly. If the iron sight assembly is not in this position, the mechanism cannot be moved into the stowed position. Further, when the iron sight assembly is in the proper stowed position, one of the legs extends upwardly from the upper surface of the firearm thereby requiring that the protective shoulders of the sight extend a sufficient distance to protect this protruding leg. Accordingly, the sighting mechanism has a profile that is larger than desired and which tends to interfere with the mounting of additional accessories above the sight. Specifically, if a user wishes to mount an optical telescopic sight in addition to the retractable sight, an additional spacer would be necessary to allow the required clearance.
In addition, as the military becomes more involved in close quarter battle (QCB) situations, it has been identified that another perceived shortcoming of the prior art is that conventional back-up iron sights including aperture type sighting elements are sometimes difficult to use in close quarter battle, and/or not versatile enough to provide both CQB sighting and long range sighting. For example, the prior art Swan sight as disclosed in the '292 patent includes a first close quarter battle aperture which has a fairly large diameter, and a second long-range aperture which has a smaller aperture. With both sights, the weapon is aimed by aligning the rear aperture with the front post sight. In CQB situations, it is necessary to quickly sight in a target. The use of a larger aperture is effective in non-combat, practice-range situations to provide a bigger sight window in order to line up the front post, but has not been found to be ideal in actual combat where it is critical to get the weapon on target with minimal effort. In addition, while the second sight with the smaller aperture provides more accurate sighting in less stressful situations where there is more time to aim, the sight still only has a single fixed range.
In view of the foregoing, there is a perceived need for an improved folding rear sight which has a low profile when stored, which has the ability to consistently and quickly deploy to a fully-zeroed position, and which can provide versatile aiming capabilities both in CQB situations and longer distance aiming.
In this regard, the present invention provides a folding rear sight comprised of three major component assemblies, namely a base, a sight housing and an aiming assembly.
The sight housing contains the aiming system. The aiming system is comprised of two independent aiming elements mounted on a central windage adjustment screw positioned within the sight housing. The first aiming element is configured and arranged in a fixed upright position generally perpendicular to a central support region of the sight housing. The second aiming element is rotatably movable relative to the first aiming element between a first active position generally perpendicular to the central support region and parallel to the first aiming element and a second inactive position generally parallel to the central support region and perpendicular to the first aiming element. The top aiming end of the first aiming element includes a larger-diameter close quarter battle (CQB) sighting aperture, while the top aiming end of the second aiming element a second smaller-diameter long-range sighting aperture.
Accordingly, when the large aperture sight is desired, the small aperture sight can be folded down out of the way of the large aperture. Further, when the sight housing is placed into the stored position, i.e. folded down against the base, the two elements of the aiming system can fold against one another allowing the sight housing to store tightly against the base while preventing one of the sighting elements from protruding outwardly from the firearm.
In a second embodiment of the invention, the aiming system includes two dual-purpose aiming elements. In this regard, the top aiming end of the fixed aiming element includes a large diameter close quarter battle (CQB) aperture and an elongated vertically extending sighting notch configured and arranged above the larger CQB aperture. Similarly, the top aiming end of the second, rotatable aiming element includes a smaller, long-range sighting aperture and an elongated vertically extending sighting notch configured and arranged above the smaller sighting aperture. The second long range aiming element is slightly taller in height than the CQB element and that the second sighting notch is longer than the first sighting notch.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sighting mechanism for a firearm that includes at least two aiming elements and has a compact profile when placed into a storage position. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a sighting mechanism for a firearm that can be retracted to a low profile storage position against the contour of the firearm while being quickly and easily deployable to a fully aligned active position. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a retractable sighting assembly for a firearm that includes at least two user selectable aiming elements that can be fully retracted into a low profile storage position against the contour of the firearm.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention.
In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:
Now referring to the drawings, the folding rear sight of the present invention is shown and generally illustrated at 10 in the drawing figures. In particular, the present invention provides folding rear sight 10 having a reduced vertical profile when in the stowed position. This feature allows improved shielding and protection of the aiming elements within the sighting device 10 when in the stowed position.
Referring briefly to
The folding rear sight 10 of the present invention includes three major components: a base generally indicated at 12, a sight housing generally indicated at 14, and an aiming assembly generally indicated at 16.
Turning now to
The sight housing 14 has two parallel side plates, a catch plate 36 and a windage adjustment plate 38. The sight housing 14 further includes an upper support region 40 defined between the catch plate 36 and the adjustment plate 38. The upper support region 40 is configured to retain and protect the aiming elements 16a, 16b. The sight housing 14 also includes a lower interface region 42 which includes an inside surface bounded by the catch plate 36. The sight housing 14 is rotatably mounted to the base 12 by a mounting pin 70, which extends through aligned apertures formed in the side plates 36, 38 and in the mounting tabs 34. The sight housing 14 is movable relative to the base 12 between a first inactive position adjacent the base 12 (see
A torsion spring 76 is received around the mounting pin 70 and engaged with both the base 12 and the sight housing 12 to normally bias the sight housing 14 toward the deployed or active position (
As can best be seen in
Referring to
The second aiming element 16b is rotatably movable relative to the first aiming element 16a between a first active position generally perpendicular to the central support region and parallel to the first aiming element (see
Referring to
A leaf spring 41 is captured between the bottom wall of the upper support region 40 and the bottom mounting ends of the aiming elements 16a, 16b and applies pressure against the bottom mounting ends of the aiming elements 16a, 16b. Detents 43 in the outer surface of the single mounting leg of the aiming element 16b engage with the leaf spring 41 to resiliently hold in the selected position.
It should be noted that when the sight housing 14 is in the retracted position, both of the aiming elements 16a and 16b are folded flat against one another and rest flat against the profile of the firearm 80 (see
Turing now to
As discussed in the background, it has been identified by soldiers who have actively been involved in close quarter battle, that it is sometimes difficult to quickly and accurately sight a target using an aperture sight (closed window). The sight window of an apertured sight is partially obstructed by the annular frame of the aperture and under stressful situations it is perceived to be more difficult to align the front post inside the frame of the aperture. It is believed by the applicant that under stressful combat situations, it is more intuitive, quicker and more accurate to site a close target using a notched sight (open window), similar to that used on many pistols. The notched sight has more open space above the sight and provides better visibility. Accordingly, the Applicant seeks to provide the aiming characteristics of a pistol in addition to the aperture sights already provided.
In this regard, the top aiming end of the fixed aiming element 102 includes a large diameter close quarter battle (CQB) aperture 106 and a vertically extending sighting notch 108 configured and arranged above the larger CQB aperture 106. Similarly, the top aiming end of the rotatable aiming element 104 includes a smaller, long-range sighting aperture 110 and an elongated vertically extending sighting notch 112 configured and arranged above the smaller sighting aperture 110. Referring to
More specifically, referring to
Now referring to
In addition, the elongated notch 112 provides an elongated vertical sight window having a range of 400-600 meters as represented by circles 118 shown in broken lines (400-500-600 meters). Hash marks 120 can be marked on the surface of the element to provide fixed elevation marks for aiming. It is noted that there is a significant difference in height between the 300 meter aperture sight 110 and the 400 meter position in the notch 112. This height difference results from a significant decrease in velocity of the projectile after traveling 300 meters. The projectile starts to drop after 300 meters and the sights must accommodate this drop for accurate shot placement.
It is also noted that the sighting ranges specified herein are not intended to be limiting to the invention. As is well known in the art, the actual range of the sights depends on many factors, such as height of the front sight post 87 and the length of the barrel 86 of the weapon. Raising and lowering the height of the front sight post 87 changes the range, or elevation, of the sight when aligned with the rear sight. Raising the front sight post 87 will decrease the range while lowering increases the range. Also, the length of the barrel 86 further affects the range of the sights. For a given height of the front sight post 87 aligned with a fixed rear sight 10, a weapon with a longer barrel (20 inches) will have a different sight range than a weapon with a shorter barrel (14 inches),
It can therefore be seen that the present invention provides an improved sighting device 10 that has a smaller and more compact profile when placed into a storage position as compared to the sighting devices in the prior art. The dual-purpose aiming elements provide standard aperture-type sight windows 106, 110 for situations where the soldier has reasonable time to aim the weapon. The notched sights 108, 112 above the apertures 106, 110 provide larger, open sighting areas, which are easier to align in stressful close combat situations. For these reasons, the instant invention is believed to represent a significant advancement in the art, which has substantial commercial merit.
While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.
This application is related to and claims priority from earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/511,878, filed Oct. 16, 2003, the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference. The Application is also a continuation-in-part of currently pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/939,962 filed Sep. 14, 2004.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10939962 | Sep 2004 | US |
Child | 11949421 | US |